(AFP) German auto giant Daimler has said Friday that its Japanese truck unit Fuso has agreed to cooperate with rival Nissan in the area of light trucks.
“Fuso is expanding its business with light-duty trucks in its core market,” Daimler said in a statement.
Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding with Nissan Motor Company “on the mutual supply of light-duty trucks”, the statement said.
While the precise details of the deal — aimed at cutting development and manufacturing costs — have still to be worked out, the agreement will see Fuso make available its Canter five-tonne truck to Nissan, while Nissan will supply its Atlas F24 to Fuso, Daimler said.
Meanwhile, Nissan will hire another 1,000 workers at its Mississippi plant as it expands production in the United States, the Japanese automaker said Ton hursday.
The new hires will bring the plant’s workforce to 4,500 people by the end of the year as Nissan adds its Sentra compact car, Frontier pickup truck and Xterra sport utility vehicle to the assembly line.
Nissan’s Canton Assembly Plant — a 3.5 million square foot facility on 1,400 acres outside of Jackson, Mississippi — started production in 2003 and has a capacity of 400,00 vehicles a year.
Its Smyrna, Tennessee plant — a 5.4 million square foot facility which currently employs 3,400 people — started production in 1983 and has the capacity to build 550,000 vehicles a year.
Nissan began construction of a new facility at its Tennessee engine plant that will produce engines for its luxury Infiniti brand and Mercedes-Benz models.
Nissan has also opened new training facilities in Tennessee, California, Texas and New Jersey over the past four years and will soon be opening facilities in Washington, DC and Chicago.
